


Nobody's Alone

by Starryoak



Category: The Amazing World of Gumball
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Cross-Posted on Tumblr, Cross-Posted on deviantArt, Dysfunctional Family, Families of Choice, Fluff and Humor, Found Family, Gen, Meet the Family, References to previous episodes, Rob was homeless and it fucks me up that nobody talks about this, as in literally meet your new family, it's the wattersons were you expecting any other kind of family?, threats of grievous bodily harm with a broom
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-12
Updated: 2019-07-12
Packaged: 2020-06-26 17:20:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,485
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19772887
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Starryoak/pseuds/Starryoak
Summary: An alternate take on the ending of ‘The Nobody’ where Gumball and Darwin take Rob back to their house for punishment rather than force him into a role, and things take a different twist.





	Nobody's Alone

**Author's Note:**

> Based on this picture and AU concept: https://www.deviantart.com/starryoak/art/Nobody-s-Alone-591068436  
> Also my first time writing The Amazing World of Gumball, so yeah, I might admittedly not do the best job. Also, Gumball’s a bit of a butthead. Left over from watching Season 2 a lot, honestly. But I tried to write like the show. Sorta. With my own take. Originally posted on February 17, 2016

“Gumball Watterson, you have five seconds to explain where you’ve been, what you did with my money, your father’s toothbrush, and Daisy the Donkey, why you left your room, and for that matter, **LEFT THE HOUSE!”** Nicole listed the transgressions on her fingers, and stood at the doorway of the Watterson family house, barring anyone from entering, her eyes almost literally glowing with rage (and likely soon to be doing so in reality). Gumball and Darwin were cowering in front of their door, standing on the porch and feeling very suddenly regretful for all their life decisions up to that point.

“Ok, first of all, I have a perfectly rational, reasonable explanation for all of those questions,” Gumball began, nervous at his mother’s gaze. “And second, Darwin’s in trouble too! Why aren’t you grilling him?” He dragged his fish brother forward and pointed at him.

“Dude, don’t drag me into this one!” Darwin squeaked, pushing Gumball away.

“You’re in trouble too, young man… fish… Darwin.” Richard erred and looked confused as to what to call Darwin, Nicole punching him in the arm. “Owww…”

“Let me do the talking, Richard.” Nicole hissed. “You’re in trouble too, Darwin.” She said. “Both of you deliberately disobeyed my very clear directions!”

“We were trying to prove our innocence!” Darwin protested. “We _didn’t_ steal any of that stuff!”

“Why would I want to steal Daisy in the first place? That’s such an embarrassing toy!” Gumball butted in, Anais growling.

“If it’s such an embarrassing toy, why would you steal it?” Anais said.

“Because we _didn’t_!” Gumball said. “We have proof!”

“I don’t see any proof…” Nicole’s glare got more intense, Gumball’s sleeve catching on fire before he quickly blew it out.

“Dude, that’s your cue!” Gumball loudly whispered to someone outside of the door.

“Wait, what?” Nicole blinked, her gaze losing the firepower and sticking her head out of the door, looking in the direction of where Gumball was glaring, and her jaw dropped. “Wha…..” She couldn’t stop looking at what, or rather, who, she saw. The first thing she noticed was his lanky, tall features, before everything else about him registered, and she looked even more dumbfounded.  
At first glance, she thought that he looked like Larry, having angular features and a long and thin body, but at the second glance, there were so many things wrong with his appearance. The first thing wrong was his eye, possessing only one, but that was not that unusual in the strange town of Elmore. But on the other hand, the other feature of his eyes were; his pupils were doubled, as if one was flipped upside-down and resembling a peanut, something green tinting at the edges of his purple irises. It flickered and stuttered, like a broken image on a TV screen.  
And that brought her to the other thing wrong; his body was phasing in and out of existence, if she wasn’t losing her mind, which at this point was rather likely, she saw his hair vanish and reappear in the blink of an eye. His face sometimes flickered and one of the facets of his polygonal head would suddenly change positions and move back into place.  
Her eyes were drawn downward, and saw that one of his feet was simply a wireframe, like the other, but hollow. And as the boy flickered, she finally recognized that his limbs and two sides of his face were filled with static, like a TV screen that had nothing on it. That was about when she started screaming. “RICHARD! GET ME A BROOM!” She shrieked at her husband, who scampered off.

“Please don’t hurt him!” Darwin suddenly shouted, jumping between the strange boy and his mother, giving the boy a second to start running in terror, screaming as well. “Come back!” Darwin stuck out a flipper, but the boy kept running.

“Dude! You surrendered!” Gumball chased after the boy, who looked back, only to trip on his hollow foot, faceplanting. “Ooh… are you ok?” Gumball caught up to him, wincing as he looked at the boy.

“Don’t let your mom kill me!” The boy whimpered. “I’m sorry I called you guys thick, I just… I was… Ok, just get rid of me.” He suddenly gave up. “I already told you. I’m nobody.”

“Thanks, Richard.” Nicole grabbed the broom that her husband had handed her, stepping up to the boy, pointing the stick at his face. “What are you doing here? Who are you? Why are you associating with my children!?” She looked slightly hysterical.

“I don’t know!” The boy whimpered. “I don’t know any of the answers to those questions! I just… I’ve been living in your house for like a few months now!” He winced, his hair clipping out of existence and clipping back in, covering his face, his limbs flickering as he clearly looked terrified of Nicole. “They dragged me here!” He pointed at a whistling in innocence Gumball and a sheepish Darwin

“You’ve been-how did you… you’ve been living in my house?” Nicole looked terrified, but slightly tinted with pity. “Why?”

“I don’t have anywhere else to go!” He whimpered. “I don’t know who I am! I don’t have a house or a family or anything! I can’t remember ever having one! I can’t even remember anything before a few months ago!”

“… You’re… you’re serious?” Nicole blinked, her grip on the broom loosening.

“Why would I lie when a crazy lady is sticking a broom in my face!?” The boy squeaked slightly, putting his hands in front of his face.

“… Crazy?” Nicole’s eye twitched.

“You _are_ threatening an obviously terrified homeless preteen with a broom, Mom.” Anais stepped out after Nicole and raised an eyebrow. “And _not asking what he did with Daisy!”_ She grabbed the broom. “Tell me where you’ve taken her!”

“Daisy?” The boy’s eyebrow quirked and his pupils glitched out for a second, clearly confused by the new attacker. dropping his hands.

“The pink donkey you took!” Gumball jumped in.

“I needed a pillow!” The boy said nervously, Anais’s gaze lightening a bit, similar to Nicole. “You can take it back! Just don’t hit me with that broom, please!” He winced.

“… He looks a bit like Mary.” Richard crept up behind his wife.

“For the last time, the man’s name is _Larry_.” Nicole rolled her eyes.

“Mary’s a guy?” Richard looked shocked.

“Do we have to have this conversation _every_ time we talk about him?” Nicole facepalmed. “And I admit, the boy does look a bit like Larry.”

“… Who’s Larry?” The boy looked confused. “… Is he that guy who delivers pizza? Or is he the mechanic? You guys called them a lot and they looked a lot like each other.” He looked up in thought.

“Ignoring the discussion on exactly how long you’ve been living in our house without our knowledge,” Nicole tried her best to ignore the question for the moment. “Larry’s both.”

“He’s also the video store clerk.” Gumball added.

“And the Joyful Burger cashier.” Darwin counted on his flippers.

“And the video game store clerk.” Gumball continued.

“… What? How does one person even do that many jobs?” The boy looked absolutely baffled, no longer terrified, the broom’s grip having been loosened.

“I have _no idea_.” Nicole admitted. “I think he does every menial job in town, actually. And that distracts us from the point; are you… what _is_ Larry, exactly?” She paused.

“I think he’s an origami person.” Anais said.

“I thought he was a rock person.” Darwin said, Gumball nodded.

“I’m pretty sure he’s a rock person.” Gumball said. “Are you a rock person?” He asked the boy.

“Or an origami person?” Anais butted in.

“I don’t know what I am! What part of ‘I don’t know who I am do you weirdos not get!?” He groaned. “I mean-weird… please don’t hit me with that stick!” He winced, clearly trying to apologize, but failing.

“… What’s _wrong_ with your face? And legs and arms… and… everything.” Gumball looked at the boy’s deformed appearance, especially the two facets on his face that were nothing but static, flickering grey fuzz like a TV screen, and his hair, which was floating above his head, just above a facet that would blink in and out of existence all the time. “That’s just not normal.”

“Gumball, we live in Elmore.” Darwin said, trying to be positive. “Remember the town’s motto?” He ignored Gumball’s groan. “Welcome to Elmore, Population: Weird!” He shouted. Everybody’s weird here! It’s what makes our town so great!“

"Yeah, yeah, I know, but there’s weird like William and Principal Brown and then there’s weird like him.” Gumball protested.

“Hey, that’s not very nice!” Darwin scolded him. “Look at me! I’m a fish that grew legs, isn’t that weird?”

“Well, yes, but-” Gumball sighed. “Whatever. man.”

“I don’t think arguing about how weird he is is very productive.” Anais raised her eyebrows, handing her mother the broom again.

“So you stole money from me?” Nicole narrowed her eyes.

“How else was I supposed to buy food! I couldn’t steal yours!” The boy looked frustrated. “Your weird rabbit husband whatever-”

“Hi!” Richard grinned and waved obliviously.

“I tried taking something from the fridge and he just burst into the room and I almost got caught!” The boy pointed at Richard, who gasped.

“You’re the gremlin who stole the soup!” Richard said accusingly, pointing at him and utterly horrified. “You _monster_!” He cried hysterically. “I wanted to eat that at some point!” He whined.

“… Point taken.” Nicole facepalmed, rubbing her forehead and looking frustrated. “So you stole my money to buy food, you’ve been living in our house for months, and you don’t have a family or anything?”

“Yeah, that pretty much sums up _exactly what I was saying_.” The boy rolled his eye, sarcasm creeping in.

“I told you we didn’t do anything!” Gumball grinned triumphantly.

“I’m sorry for blaming you, Gumball, Darwin….” Nicole smiled at her sons, giving Gumball a little noogie. “Though you have to admit, it wouldn’t have occurred to you to assume someone’s been living in your house for months if someone stole your toys.” She said defensively.

“I’d just assume it was Anais.” Gumball shrugged, Darwin nodding.

“Like I would want any of your stupid toys!” Anais snapped.

“… What are you going to do to him?” Gumball asked, looking a bit excited.

“Well, you _will_ have to pay for all the money you stole, young man.” Nicole looked at the boy. “… What’s your name? I can’t effectively give you a punishment just calling you that.” She looked sheepish.

“… Uh… I…” The boy looked nervous, thinking hard. “I… I don’t know…” He admitted.

“What? You can’t even remember your name?” Anais looked surprised.

“I said I don’t know who I am!” The boy snapped again. “That includes my name! I don’t remember my name-” The boy paused suddenly as something hit him.

* * *

_“Did you just call me Rich like it was a question?”_

_“Ha! Did I say Rich? Ahahaha, I’m sorry dude, I meant… uh, your name.”_

_“Which is?”_

_“Hahahahaha…”_

_“Which is?”_

_“…..”_

_“ROB! My name is **Rob!”**_

* * *

“My name’s…. Rob.” Rob shook his head to clear out the memory he had just had, trying to focus. “I think… I remember that.”

“Ok then, Rob.” Nicole looked satisfied with this. “You’re going to have to pay for what you stole.”

“But I don’t have any money! That’s why I stole yours in the first place!” Rob said, incredulous. “How am I supposed to get money? I don’t have a job! I don’t have parents, and now that you guys found me, I don’t have a house!” He looked angry and indignant. “I’m a homeless, jobless middle school kid! I can’t get a job at all!”

“Dude, I’m like, 12, and I got a job working for a makeup testing facility. They asked me if I was 18. I said I had been both 8 and 10 and they said that was good enough.” Gumball butted in again. “It’s _pretty_ easy to get a job in this town.”

“Wait, what is this about makeup test-you know what, we’ll discuss this later.” Nicole was torn between a few emotions and looked conflicted, but sighed. “Rob, since you’ve already, well, made yourself a home in our basement, I suppose you could stay.”

“What the what?” Gumball looked shocked, as did Darwin.

“Mrs. Mom, are you ok?” Darwin asked.

“You want me to stay?” Rob looked shocked. “Why?”

“Well, you don’t have a family or a home, and you need one, and you need to pay off your debt to us….” Nicole said. “Plus, I can’t in good faith leave a child homeless and alone, so it seems like the logical choice.”

“Nothing in this situation is logical.” Anais deadpanned.

“Anais, I adopted our pet fish when he grew legs and he’s your older brother. This isn’t the weirdest thing our family’s done.” Nicole gave an equally deadpan look back at her daughter.

“Plus, didn’t you try to turn Rocky into a new Darwin when they took Darwin to that genius facility?” Gumball said. “You’ve got this creepy thing with making everyone your kid.”

“You did _what_ while I was gone?” Darwin looked confused.

“I admit that that was a desperate bid for replacing my son, but-look, I’m your mother, stop questioning me and listen.” Nicole looked embarrassed by her former actions, but stopped to assert her authority. “So, since you stole from us, you can pay off your debt by doing chores, and you’ll get to stay in our house and live with us! How does that sound?” She grinned.

“Terrifying and insane.” Rob deadpanned. “You’re all clearly insane.”

“He’s not _wrong_.” Anais said.

“Ok, if it’s that insane, I suppose we could just call the cops and have them arrest you.” Nicole looked rather devious.

“Wha-no!” Rob squeaked, getting up. “I can’t go to the police! I don’t have any identity!”

“Well then, maybe you should reconsider whether or not to accept my offer.” Nicole grinned smugly.

“… I don’t actually have a choice, do I?” Rob deadpanned.

“Nope!” Richard suddenly rushed up and hugged him, Rob glitching out majorly for a second in shock. “Welcome to the family!” He shouted, raising Rob up onto his shoulders. “Group hug!” He grabbed Anais and Darwin hopped onto her head, Nicole putting her hand on Rob’s shoulders, Gumball begrudgingly joining in, leaning on Anais.

“Wha….” Rob looked confused at the sudden acceptance from the family, and almost everything about this situation, but he couldn’t deny that there was a sense of relief that he wasn’t going to have to hide anymore. And somehow, all of the Watterson’s accepting him made him feel… nice. Even if they were incredibly weird, he felt better than he could remember ever feeling, though admittedly, he didn’t remember much of anything. He looked at them and tried not to smile, but one slipped out anyway.


End file.
